WHEN a link surfaces in present-day Bangalore between what was once South Canara and Malabar in Madras Presidency and the princely State of Travancore, it becomes an interesting event.
In a quiet way, a book of memoirs about the late V.J. Joseph Kandoth, Chevalier, was released here last week.
He was a leader of the Knanaya Catholic community which migrated from the Iraq region to Kerala centuries ago.
In addition to this Middle East connection, Prof. Joseph had another distinction. As professor of physics in St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, he also authored two textbooks on physics in the 1920s.
Said to be the first- ever textbooks to be written on the subject by an Indian, they were widely used in schools and colleges across the then undivided sub-continent.
Prof. Joseph was just 30 when he wrote Experimental Physics for SSLC in 1920, followed three years later by Advanced Experimental Physics, for college students.
Apart from his academic interests, he maintained close links with his church and community in Kerala. Out of this came an urge to do something for the landless but hard-working people of his community.
He persuaded the big zamindars of the Malabar region, whose sons were his students, to part with large tracts of land, which was then mainly jungle.
Two colonies were established with settlers from Travancore, many of whom made their first journey by train.
Despite his work at Mangalore, Prof. Joseph used to spend every weekend at the `Rajapuram Colony', trekking miles in the forest after getting down from the train.
His daughter, Maria Mitter, who has written "Memoirs of a Daughter", traces the history of the family from the archives at BMS College in Kottayam and from the Bishop's offices there. Dr. Mitter lives in Koramangala.
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